REGION: Tech tool helps in fight against graffiti

Graffiti Tracker played role in recent arrests

Money invested in a Web-based graffiti-tracking program is
paying dividends in North County, officials say.

About six months ago, sheriff's deputies were trained on the
Graffiti Tracker system, a database of graffiti incidents and
information. The department's contract for access to the database
and analysis service cost about $84,000.

In August, Graffiti Tracker helped nab five suspected graffiti
taggers accused of causing more than $100,000 in damage, officials
said.

The suspects were connected to tagging at more than 240
different spots, said Mata, who oversaw the investigation that let
to the arrests of Ruben Beaz, 19; Marcus Rivera, 20; Michael Playa,
22; Juan Antonio Rivera, 20; and a teenager whose name was not
released because he is a minor.

The taggers didn't confine themselves to Vista, either, said
Deputy Elvys Cabrera, the head tagging investigator in the Vista
station.

"Some of the guys we arrested had tagged Oceanside and San
Marcos and even Escondido, in addition to Vista," Cabrera said

Cabrera said he knew that thanks to Graffiti Tracker ---- and
that knowledge is one of the reasons officers and deputies from
other cities were willing to help out with the recent arrests.

Graffiti Tracker works in conjunction with a GPS-enabled camera.
Typically, public works and code enforcement crews charged with
painting over graffiti first snap a picture, which is then
wirelessly uploaded to Graffiti Tracker's server, along with data
on the time, date and exact place the graffiti was recorded.

As part of the contract, Graffiti Tracker analysts decipher the
painted or penned scrawl in the photos.

When a vandal is caught painting his nickname on a wall, police
can search the database and see where the tagger has struck
before.

Escondido Police Sgt. Mike Kearny said residents ---- and
taggers ---- can expect to see more cooperation between law
enforcement agencies, especially with increased participation in
the tracking program.

"We're really trying to join all our North County agencies
together as a team," said Kearny, whose department was the first in
the area to sign up for Graffiti Tracker in 2006. The Oceanside
Police Department has since signed up for the service.

Officials said stopping graffiti at the source can prevent crime
from escalating in an area and keep costs down.

Graffiti can degrade the atmosphere of a neighborhood, leading
to more tagging and perhaps other kinds of crime, they said.

And covering up graffiti isn't cheap.

Escondido's Deputy Director of Maintenance and Operations Rich
O'Donnell said that in 2008, his department spent about $300,000 in
materials and labor to remove graffiti.

At the same time, vandals who were prosecuted were ordered to
repay Escondido a total of $221,000, officials said. About $185,000
of that was linked to Graffiti Tracker-aided arrests, they
said.

Of the five people recently arrested in the Vista investigation,
two have pleaded guilty, according to the district attorney's
office.

Playa and Juan Antonio Rivera each pleaded guilty to two counts
of felony vandalism, deputy district attorney Anne Richardson
said.

Their sentences and the issue of restitution will be considered
when they appear before a judge Oct. 1, Richardson said.